Key improvement a big team effort

An Emmer Green secondary has been named one of the most improved schools in the country.

According to Key Stage 3 results published today Highdown School is one of the 50 most improved secondaries in Britain.

In 2007 the aggregate percentages of 13 and 14-year-old pupils achieving Level Five in English, maths and science at Highdown was 191.

In 2008 – following exams taken in May last year – the aggregate percentage of pupils achieving Level Five, the magic mark, was 245.

That is an increase of 54 – the 43rd most improved in the country.

Highdown headteacher Tim Royle, who was also Reading’s first National Leader in Education, said: “It is terrific. We are very pleased.

“I find myself in a position where I can see every year at Highdown being better than the year before.

“But it is not just down to me. It’s my team. A school cannot be turned around, improved or developed by just one individual. What you need to really make a difference is a team.”

Mr Royle, who liaises with top education figures in government and plays a key role in improving Whitley Park Juniors, said the school was very popular in the community – and continually oversubscribed.

He said: “We have a dynamic and creative team. I think schools need to work together and move some of the elitism out of education.”

At Highdown the percentage of pupils achieving a Level Five mark in English was 77 per cent and in maths and science 84 per cent.

Other schools in the borough which performed well included grammars Kendrick and Reading School.

Kendrick deputy headteacher Chris Kattirtzi said: “It’s down to good teaching, able students and the hard work of the school. There’s no other formula.

“We have dedicated students and very hard working teachers. We are delighted. When the pupils find out they will be too.”

Whitley comprehensive Reading Girls’ – formally put on Special Measures and deemed a failing school by Ofsted – achieved the fourth best marks in the borough.

New headteacher of the Northumberland Avenue secondary Emma Leigh-Bennett said: “It is fantastic news. Over the past three years Reading Girls’ has made a significant improvement, year on year. All the indicators suggest this is going to continue.

“But behind that sits a huge amount of hard work. The school has a real partnership with parents and the community.

“Sometimes special measures is a useful impetus for improvement and I think in our case it was.

“Reading Girls’ is not the school it was three years ago. The school is set on a course for improvement.

“The numbers for admittance at Year Seven in 2008 are way above expectations. We are well on the way to becoming oversubscribed.”

Overall Reading Borough Council was among the bottom-performing LEAs nationally.

It ranked 87th out of 150 – an improvement on last year’s 101.

Then the aggregate percentage of pupils receiving the national benchmark, Level Five, in all three subjects was 213.